Redacting Victorian Gumdrops, oops

Oops.  While cleaning out my storage locker, I made a discovery.  Back in March I purchased some gum arabic to use in the making of incense, which I never did.  Guess what I found today?  A bag of certified organic gum arabic.  I had some all along but did not remember it.  To make a short story long, I am going to check with the seller, Mountain Rose Herbs, to see if this is safe to use for culinary purposes.

Their website, where the product is called Acacia Powder, says the following:  "Safe for internal use as a food and for external use without limitation, although allergies are possible for people exposed to windborne pollen."  It IS safe to use for cooking (Yeah!), but I need to let people know about potential pollen allergies.

I am wondering if I can get a test batch made this weekend or not.  I will keep you posted.

Redacting Victorian Gumdrops, a new thought

I took a trip to Whole Foods to see if they carried gum arabic.  They did not.  However, I noticed on the shelf gum tragacanth.  There was also xanthan gum.  From my incense making, I also know the local Kroeger affiliate (King Soopers) carries guar gum, which is used in making modern store-bought ice cream.  Is it a possibility that one of these readily available gums could be used as a gum arabic substitute?  I am formulating an experimentation plan in my head, but I make no promises at this time.

Redacting Victorian gumdrops

With a little time on my hands while my laundry dries, I decided to attempt a redaction of the previously posted Victorian gumdrop recipe.  At the start of the recipe we have:

Dissolve about one pound of the best quality of granulated gum-arabic,

The first thing to know is there are several grades of gum arabic on the market.  One must find culinary- or food-grade gum arabic, not the stuff sold at an art supply store or an incense store.  I have found about 4 or 5 on-line sources for food-grade gum arabic, which I will post after I have made a test batch of the recipe.

in three gills of water,

A gill in the US is equivalent to 1/2 cup.  I will need to find out if this recipe comes from the US or Britain, as British volume measurements differ from US volume measurements.  Here is a link to a great resource showing the differences.  Until I determine the recipe's nationality, I will assume US and go with 1-1/2 cups (12 fl. oz.) of water.

by heating it over a moderate fire,

I am searching for a meaning of "moderate fire."  To this point, I have found one reference stating moderate heat is 350°F.  Once I remove the firefighting definitions, moderate fire is at least hot enough to boil something.

stirring constantly.

Okay, that seems simple enough.  However, I would recommend using a wooden spoon and a non-reactive kettle, such as stainless steel or graniteware.

Do not allow to boil.

That kind of goes against "moderate fire", doesn't it?  So, we need heat hot enough to melt gum arabic but not hot enough to boil water.

Strain,

Since the recipe is using granulated gum arabic, I would think either a fine mesh sieve or a coffee filter to keep out most of the undissolved gum.

and after you have washed out the kettle, return the liquid gum, and add twelve ounces of pulverized sugar, and two gills of water.  

Again, for gills we replace 1 cup of water.

Let this boil down to a very thick liquid (evaporation being the safer way, however), page 59, so thick that it will pour only very slowly from the kettle. Stir constantly, being careful not to allow it to burn.

This seems to be a honey-like consistency.  The evaporation process mentioned here is using a double boiler and a "slow" fire.  This takes more time, and one still has to stir constantly to prevent burning.

Then remove from the fire, flavor and color (if desired) and put it aside to settle.  

No measurements are given for flavoring or coloring

Meanwhile, prepare the moulding trays,

The moulding trays mentioned here are cornstarch molds.  Here is a link to an Instructable on how to make cornstarch molds.

and make indentations of the usual form for all gum-drops,

I figure a thimble will work fine for gumdrop shapes.

and when the contents of the kettle are cold, and honey like, carefully skim the surface of the solution, and fill the moulds. When they are all filled, sift a little fine sugar or starch powder over the tops, and put them away to harden.  Do not disturb them for two or three days, then remove from the powder, and if they are sufficiently firm to bear the handling, put them into a hair sieve,

A hair sieve is a sieve with a hair-cloth bottom rather than wires.  This is so that the wires don't scratch up the candy.  I'm thinking maybe a regular sieve with cheesecloth lining might work.

and gently shake until the particles of powder are removed.  Then brush them with a broad, and very soft brush.  When thoroughly dry, they may be crystallized,

For gumdrops, this just means rolled in sugar.

or left plain.  The usual flavors are Lemon (yellow), Rose (red), Wintergreen (uncolored).

At this point, we have the following -->

Ingredients:
1 lb. granulated gum arabic
1-1/2 cups water
12 ounces (by weight) granulated sugar
1 cup water
flavoring
coloring
cornstarch, enough to fill the mold

Equipment:
Non-reactive kettle
pan deep enough to hold cornstarch
ruler or other leveler
thimble or rubber glove to make impressions
wooden spoon
fine mesh sieve or coffee filter
hair sieve or cheesecloth

Procedure:

Place gum arabic and 1-1/2 cups water in a saucepan over moderate fire.  Dissolve the gum arabic, stirring constantly, and do not allow to boil.  Strain mixture through fine mesh sieve or coffee filter.  Pour gum mixture into a clean pan.  Add sugar and 1 cup water.  Bring to a boil while stirring constantly.  Reduce to a point where it "pours very slowly from the kettle."  Remove from heat.  Add desired flavorings and colorings.  Stir, and allow to sit while you prepare the molds.

Fill the pan with cornstarch.  Use a ruler to level the surface of the cornstarch.  Make impressions in the cornstarch that resemble gumdrops (use a thimble or a gloved finger).  When the syrup has cooled, skim the surface.  Then spoon the syrup into the impressions.  Allow the candy to sit at least 48-72 hours.  Remove gumdrops from cornstarch.  Please in a cheesecloth-lined sieve and shake to remove excess cornstarch.  Use a very soft brush (pastry brush?) to brush away remaining cornstarch.  Allow to air dry.  When thoroughly dry, roll in granulated sugar.  Allow to rest and crystalize before devouring.


How's that?  At least I now have a blueprint for when I try to make these puppies.  Well, laundry calls!

I Am a Rock (Candy)

Rock candy has existed for a long time, at least 200 years.  However, rock candy as we know it (sugar crystals on a string or stick) seems to have first appeared in the late 1800s.  At that time, it was made with whisky and sold as a cough remedy.  The confection made its first appearance in the very early 1900s.  I will get my sources and update this posting later.

Are gumdrops Victorian?

Although the true history of the gumdrop has been misplaced, gummy candies (more appropriately, jellies) have existed for hundreds of years.  During my renaissance fair days, I made a receipt (ol’ timey word for “recipe”) called White Leach.  This was, in essence, a rose-flavored milk jell-o jiggler.  The gumdrop itself does appear in one of my Victorian recipe books, Candy Making at Home (1884).  It calls the use of glucose to make gum-drops a “cheap adulteration.”  Moulding trays, which are boxes filled with cornstarch or powdered sugar into which impressions are made creating a temporary mould, were used to form the gumdrops.  Here is a cut-and-paste of the actual 1884 gum-drop (yes, it was hyphenated at the time) recipe:

Dissolve about one pound of the best quality of granulated gum-arabic, in three gills of water, by heating it over a moderate fire, stirring constantly.  Do not allow it to boil.  Strain, and after you have washed out the kettle, return the liquid gum, and add twelve ounces of pulverized sugar, and two gills of water.  Let this boil down to a very thick liquid (evaporation being the safer way, however), page 59, so thick that it will pour only very slowly from the kettle.  Stir constantly, being careful not to allow it to burn.  Then remove from the fire, flavor and color (if desired) and put it aside to settle.  Meanwhile, prepare the moulding trays, and make indentations of the usual form for all gum-drops, and when the contents of the kettle are cold, and honey like, carefully skim the surface of the solution, and fill the moulds. When they are all filled, sift a little fine sugar or starch powder over the tops, and put them away to harden.  Do not disturb them for two or three days, then remove from the powder, and if they are sufficiently firm to bear the handling, put them into a hair sieve, and gently shake until the particles of powder are removed.  Then brush them with a broad, and very soft brush.  When thoroughly dry, they may be crystallized, or left plain.  The usual flavors are Lemon (yellow), Rose (red), Wintergreen (uncolored).

Gumdrops are mentioned by the translator of the 13^th century Kitab al tabikh fi-l-Maghrib wa-l-Andalus fi `asr al-Muwahhidin, li-mu'allif majhul (The Book of Cooking in Maghreb and Andalus in the era of Almohads, by an unknown author).  A review of the associated recipe, however, reveals a “chewy” candy.  This could be taffy, not a gumdrop.  A chewy gum-arabic candy also appears in this book, but this is neither moulded nor crystallized.  Calling them gumdrops, then, would be a stretch.  These are the only antique mentions of gumdrops I have come across.  If I ever discover a source for culinary-grade gum-arabic, I will try to create redactions.  At present, though, I am left with the modern equivalents.

A search of the recipes for gumdrops on the Internet has turned up two basic procedures for making gumdrops:  The gelatin method and the pectin method.  Each method seems to follow proportional ratios between recipes.  For the pectin recipe, the basic ingredients are as follows:

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

3/4 c liquid (this being either fruit juice or water)

1-3/4 ounces powdered fruit pectin

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Additional colorings and flavorings as desired.

Pretty much every pectin-based recipe I have come across has the same ratio of ingredients, although one fellow commented that the amount of baking soda should change according to the type of juice used.

The gelatin-based ingredients also follow their own radio pattern:

1 level tbsp. unflavored powdered gelatin

1/4 c cold tap water

3/8 c boiling water

1 c sugar

Colorings and flavorings as desired

It is important to note that the colorings and flavorings must be added in very small quantities so as to not dilute the gumdrop and prevent it from setting.  As for the shape of the homemade gumdrops, there are silicone gumdrop moulds available on the Internet, but most of the recipes I have found call for pouring the hot syrup into a loaf pan lined with greased foil and then cutting the drops into squares before rolling them in sugar.

Ordering supplies

I just ordered tartaric acid for making acid drops, which is a type of Victorian-era candy.

Receipt shock

So far, I have found three sources that discuss the grades of chocolate used in candy making.  I have created a spreadsheet to keep track of chocolate brand recommendations.  Anybody can see that chart at this link (which should open in a new window).  So far, four brands come out on top:  Callebaut, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, and Guittard.  There is actually a company that carries all of these brands.  It is Chocosphere (which should open in a new window).  Although the price per pound is very reasonable, one has to purchase 2.2 pounds of each different chocolate.  Depending on the brand, there are as many as seven different chocolates.  That means I would have to spend over $300 just to try all the type of all these brands.  That is why I am writing this blog right now; I am hoping it will break the logjam in my head so I can make a decision as to what to purchase.